A gender-bending world view

May 28th, 2011

Q: I’ve been told that it’s now acceptable to use “their” when referring to a single person (to avoid the awkwardness of “his/her” and the like). Example: “What beliefs does a student have embedded in their own world view?” Please tell me if this is correct.

A: In our world view, it’s not correct. We’re not alone in this. Using the plural pronouns “they,” “them,” and “their” in reference to singular antecedents is widely considered a misusage in modern English.

However, this is a convention that is widely ignored, even by otherwise competent writers. Why? Obviously, there’s a gap in English, and people feel the need for a pronoun that’s not only gender-free but number neutral as well.

With that in mind, it’s important to know that historically “they” & company were in fact used for centuries as all-purpose pronouns, and nobody made a fuss about it until the mid-18th century.